All abandoned: Chernobyl / Pripyat, Nara Dreamland, Anti-Zombie Fortress, Japanese Sex Museum – and many, many more! Plus: North Korea Special – 2 trips, 16 days / 14 nights! As seen on CNN…

Maya Tourist Hotel Revisited

The abandoned art deco hotel on Kobe’s Mount Maya is probably the most famous abandoned accommodation in all of Japan; a movie, music videos, and short films have been shot there – and it’s also a popular location for fashion shootings.

By the time *I first explored the Maya Tourist Hotel in 2011* it was already a legend, maybe the most visited abandoned place in all of Japan back then – no urbex blog without an article about this huge, gorgeous art deco hotel built in 1929. If you are interested in the hotel’s varied and fascinating history, I recommend reading the old article first.
Half a year after the exhausting hike halfway up the Rokko Mountain Range in super sweaty summer weather I returned shortly after New Year’s Day on an overcast day at around 0°C. Instead of walking up the mountain, me and my one time exploration partner from Nigeria, Bukola, took the cable car, actually risking not being able to get to the hotel. To not get into the focus of the cable car staff, we only had a quick look at the hotel from above and then continued to the *Mount Maya Bungalow Village*, an often overlooked site just a few minutes away. Upon our return to the cable car station we were able to do what we had to do to get to the hotel…
Exploring the Maya Tourist Hotel for a second time almost felt like being at a new location – different season, different access point, different equipment; the first I had neither a tripod nor a ultra-wide angle lens, so this time I was able to take photos in areas not suitable for the basic equipment I brought the first time. It also meant descending to some creepy areas I missed during my previous time around. Overall a lovely exploration, much less sweaty and nerve-wrecking than in summer – and like at the *Kyoto Dam* the atmosphere was completely different. I absolutely loved the luscious vegetation in summer, but since the area was almost completely overgrown, it made exterior shots rather difficult. The barren trees in winter weren’t exactly jawdroppers, but they allowed some nice views at the stunning front of the building. Despite the fact that there was hardly any interior left, the Maya Tourist Hotel was and is one of the best abandoned hotels in all of Japan – roaming the wide hallways you can basically feel the history of this amazing place. For more information, photos, and videos, *please check out the article I wrote about my first exploration of the Maya Tourist Hotel* – and if you still don’t have enough, you can look forward for more… because I went back… in autumn!